Fed Action

In light of the Federal Reserve slashing the Federal Funds Rate and Discount Rate 75 basis points in less than 60 days, I thought I would dispel the myth that mortgage rates are dropping as well. The Federal Reserve acknowledges the need for "liquidity" in the market place. Why? They know that unless banks, wholesale lenders, retail lenders and others have the funds to lend then regardless of what mortgage rates are there is no chance of a housing recovery! The government is trying to give lenders "money to lend". The largest factor behind the "credit crunch" is the fact that lenders had little to no money to lend to qualified borrowers. Typically, wholesale lenders use mortgage lines of credit to fund certain loans and when the "credit crunch" hit these lenders had their lines pulled. Therefore, the Federal Reserve is trying to push money back into the financial market place for lenders to lend, for buyer's to access and the end result would be for the housing inventory to decline thus bring values back in line.

Don't get me wrong mortgage rates are GREAT! However, do not be fooled that The Federal Reserves actions are to ultimately lower mortgage rates. The problem is not that rates are high, they are just the opposite and it's not like there are no homes to choose from again it's quite the opposite as inventory of unsold homes have never been higher. The financial market's have a "credit crunch" and they (Feds) are trying to reverse this. In fact, it's a great time to be a home buyer right now you have a plethora of homes to choose from at discounted prices and unbelievable rates to boot!

Brought to you by Professional Mortgage Group
Your Columbia Missouri Mortgage Broker

Will The Fed Act Again?

Well, the Federal Reserve Committee will meet once again on Wednesday October 31st. What will they do; keep rates unchanged, 1/4 point reduction, 1/2 point reduction? Time will tell but most analyst (80%) are predicting at least a .25% reduction and some think perhaps another half .50% will be taken and needed.

For the first time in a long time the continued housing slump and credit crunch is really making an adverse impact on our overall economic market. Just today Merrill Lynch announced that it would be forced to "write-down" over $7.9B; most of which was due to the housing crisis and the delinquency attached to it. Also, announced today was the "national" existing home sales report which reflected the lowest level in almost 8 years.

Add to the above the dilemma concerning record gas prices, increased unemployment, higher utility costs and this does not make for a healthy economy. It seems even the market is expecting further Federal help has today's 30 year mortgage rates are 6.125% down over .25% from a week ago. However, the problem is not mortgage rates or our nationally high inventory of homes. Rates could be at 3.0% but if buyer's cannot access the money to utilize the rate, what difference does it make! The credit crunch needs to be addressed, loans that could be done 1-2 years ago are now no longer available. Now with that being said, I am not a proponent of opening the flood gates of Sub-Prime and Alt-A products like we saw toward the late 90's. However, there are "tweaks" we can do to our product offerings that I believe will help "qualified" borrowers. For example; stated income loans with some verified assets, good scores and some reserves should be made available again. Also, some sub-prime (i.e. 600+ fico's, full-doc, 95% ltv) there is a need and market for this product. The problem with the above is that investors of these types of loans have gotten burned and pulled out of the market. What is needed to get them back?

Brought to you by Professional Mortgage Group
Your Columbia Missouri Mortgage Broker

How ARM resets are calculated

With all the news out there of the coming deluge of ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) resets on both conforming and non-conforming loans, I thought it might be a good time to explain how a lender comes up with a new payment when an interest rate adjusts.

First, some terms that you should become familiar with:

Index: This is the base rate to which the new adjusted rate will be based upon.

Some common indexes to base rates on are the U.S. Treasury's and the LIBOR. These indexes change as the markets go up and down.

Margin: This is a fixed amount to be added to the index to calculate the new rate.

In your loan documents this is stated as a number (i.e. 3.00% or 2.50%)
to be added to a specific index. It will also state when the index will be examined for purposes of calculating your new rate, usually 30 to 45 days before the adjustment date.

Caps: These refer to the maximum amount a rate can adjust at any one adjustment and over the course of the loan.

Some common caps are 1/5 (change a maximum of 1% up or down from the current rate during any one change and a maximum of 5% from the original rate), and the 2/6 (change a maximum of 2% up or down from the current rate during any one change and a maximum of 6% up or down from the original rate).

Let me show you an example:

Original Terms of 3 Year ARM

Loan Rate = 7.00%
Margin = 3.00% over the current LIBOR 45 days prior to change date
Cap = 2/6

*Note: That means that at the time of the loan the LIBOR had to be 4.00%
(7.00%-3.00%=4.00%)

Now let's say three years are almost up. 45 days before the new rate will go into effect the LIBOR is at 5.50%

To calculate the new rate you must add the margin to the index
5.50%(LIBOR) + 3.00%(Margin) = 8.50%

But, what would happen if the index had gone up to 6.50% instead.

6.5%(LIBOR) + 3.00%(Margin) = 9.50%
But that is not the new rate.
The loan had a cap of 2/6 so the most the loan rate could increase would be to 9.00%
(7.00% + 2.00% = 9.00%)

What would the highest rate be that this loan can ever have?

7.00% (original rate) + 6.00% (maximum rate per cap) = 13.00%

The same applies when the index falls. What would the new rate be if the LIBOR fell to 1.50%?

1.50%(LIBOR) + 3.00%(Margin) = 4.50%
Again the caps apply. The most the rate can go down in any one adjustment is 2.00% from the previous rate. So the new rate could not be any less than 5.00%
(7.00%(Current rate) - 2.00%(Margin) = 5.00%).

As you can see the calculation is fairly easy addition or subtraction. Hopefully this has taken some of the mystery out of how your new rate is calculated when you have an ARM.

Any questions or comments are always welcome!

Brought to you by Professional Mortgage Group, Inc. in Columbia, Missouri.